Wind Flyers

Narrated by Tony Fragale, this iconographic-animated adaptation of the 2007 picture book written by Angela Johnson and illustrated by Loren Long depicts a young boy's admiration of his great-great-uncle's love of being airborne, and later heroic position as a Tuskegee Airman during WWII. Wind Flyers starts off with cute stories about the uncle jumping off a chicken coop and a barn (into soft hay, thankfully) when he was a child. At the age of 11, the uncle took a trip in a barnstormer aircraft, after which he was hooked, thinking “…it's what Heaven must be.” The pair go through a photo album as the uncle describes his pride in being part of the 332d Fighter Group, his postwar job at crop dusting, and his lifelong appreciation for the wind in his sails. Featuring realistic drawings and an informative author's note on the real-life pilots, Wind Flyers—a 2013 ALA-ALSC Notable Children's Video selection—is highly recommended. Aud: K, E, P. (J. Williams-Wood)